Rayburn - Any Good ?

Ebe_Scrooge

We're in the process of looking for a new house, and have seen several that we're interested in that use a Rayburn. These are oil fired as there's no mains gas in the village.

Now, this is all new to me. If I understand correctly, the Rayburn acts as a cooker and is also the boiler for the central heating and hot water. But we've been told that you leave them on all the time. Sounds like an expensive thing to run to me.

So, does anyone have any experience of these things ? Are they expensive to run ( compared to, say, a normal gas boiler and gas or electric oven ) ? What do you do in summer when you need to cook but don't want the heating on, but still need hot water ? Any other tips / pitfalls to consider ?

Sorry for the long list of questions, but I've never come across this setup before, and if it's going to be a fortune to run them then we may have to reconsider. Thanks for reading.

bryanb

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

We're in the process of looking for a new house, and have seen several that we're interested in that use a Rayburn. These are oil fired as there's no mains gas in the village.

Now, this is all new to me. If I understand correctly, the Rayburn acts as a cooker and is also the boiler for the central heating and hot water. But we've been told that you leave them on all the time. Sounds like an expensive thing to run to me.

So, does anyone have any experience of these things ? Are they expensive to run ( compared to, say, a normal gas boiler and gas or electric oven ) ? What do you do in summer when you need to cook but don't want the heating on, but still need hot water ? Any other tips / pitfalls to consider ?

Sorry for the long list of questions, but I've never come across this setup before, and if it's going to be a fortune to run them then we may have to reconsider. Thanks for reading.

If you need to ask, you can't afford it.

In summer you either have an alternate means of cooking/water heating, or open all the windows.

martindow

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

If I understand correctly, the Rayburn acts as a cooker and is also the boiler for the central heating and hot water. But we've been told that you leave them on all the time. Sounds like an expensive thing to run to me

Sometimes they run everything but often they just do cooking and hot water but not central heating for which you have a separate boiler. They are quite expensive to run and oil ones need servicing twice a year. On the other hand they make a very cosy house and the central heating is only needed in the depths of winter as the heat from the Rayburn or Aga keeps the whole house warm.

If you keep them on all year and don't have an alternative cooker they can be expensive and sweltering.

Ebe_Scrooge

Thanks for the information, folks. Sort of confirms what I was worried about - time to start doing some sums methinks.

dursley.donkey

I grew up in a house with a rayburn - solid fuel burner. It lasted for my entire 18 years at that house and was going strong when my mother moved out another 10 years later. You don't need central heating with these - you just live in the kitchen all winter, where it will be lovely and warm. It did cooking and hot water, but using the oven was a black art - you don't just turn a knob to the temperature - perhaps you do with the oil fired ones, but ours you had to plan ahead and carry buckets of coal. The other thing was that it had direct hot water, so the boiler would fill with limescale every few years.

paullwill8

I don't have one but work in many old farm houses that do, and always very warm in kitchen, sometimes too warm.

clairehi

my parents in law have an oil-fuelled Rayburn which is used all year round. in summer time it makes the kitchen, and the bedroom above, very hot indeed.

it certainly doesnt heat the whole house in winter, but then they have a large house in a cold area.

moonrakerz

The Rayburn is often called - "the poor man's Aga".

It suffers from the same disadvantages as the Aga, first one being they are incredibly expensive to run - especially on oil !

fishing-girl

my parents had one in the farmhouse for the last 35years we all loved it growing up and it made the kitchen the place to be,but a steep learning curve on the cooking side. my mum also had a electric cooker as there is little temp control with the rayburn.
they have recently moved house and my mum was very worried about how she would manage without the rayburn,she has a gas rangemaster now and has never looked back.
so i suppose it depends how it is used,great in a big kitchen where people spend most of their time. it is expensive to run and has little control over temp, you just learn to cook differently.
ps my dad did the servicing himself, not too tricky.